Wheel of Fire
by Kat Austin
Summary: Madison Parrish is a young warlock who has just found her mother dead and is on a mission to find the killer by seeking out the help of Brooklyn's High Warlock, Magnus Bane. Will she be able to enlist his help when Jace and Clary are also requesting his assistance at the same time? Will she be successful in her mission or will she find dangers greater than she ever imagined?
When I say that I have been searching for Magnus I don't mean that in the truest sense of the word. One doesn't have to search for Magnus as his name precedes him and his disposition proceeds even his name. Oh yes his disposition is renown and I followed it all the way to New York from my hometown of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Surely I could strike out on my own to find any warlock but what I needed was the help of a powerful warlock and I was determined to go to the best that there was. It was a sight to behold when I arrived at his Brooklyn apartment. Though no human would have the slightest notion of any goings on, I of course saw plenty.

I took my place on a bus stop bench across from the apartment and watched as the most curious figures flowed in and out of the building which was a glow in a blue and purple disco lights. Girls with purple skin and yellow hair, locked arm and arm went in to join the festivities, following behind was boy with pale blue skin with beautiful set of pearlescent horns spiraling up from his temples like an antelope. Every now and then characters who looked more like they belonged in a biker club would come stumbling out onto the sidewalk to regurgitate whatever concoction Magnus must have been serving.

Then came a group that peeked my interest. First, a girl with fire red hair was the leader of the group, dressed in a short and tight black dress with a black jacket covering her low cut neckline. Following her was another girl of Spanish descent looking far more revealing that the leader, then three boys all dressed in black following in toe. I felt for the boy holding up the end of the line, his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched over and his glasses consistently falling down and he pushing them back into place. He reminded me of myself. Quiet so not to disturb those around me, but in my case it was because I learned very early on that my powers were hard to control and very dangerous and so forced myself to take my place at the end of the line. This group was different than the others I observed coming and going, appearing human yet not. It was as if my eyes were playing a trick on me but there seemed to be a soft golden glow emanating from three of the group members.

Taking a deep breath in and exhaling to calm my nerves, I figured I had come this far to talk to Magnus and sat outside long enough stalling but now my interest begged me to follow. Jumping up from the bus bench, I made my way across the busy street and fell behind the group.

At first the girl with the dark skin and black hair buzzed the intercom with no avail. The group began to quarrel, stopping only when a tall, lean man with spiky black hair and cat eyes approached them. I didn't have to wonder who the man in the sequin shorts with cat eyes was for the girl immediately acknowledged him with his name, Magnus. Hearing this, I sank behind the boy with glasses until the group was allowed into the building. Following Magnus, we ascended the staircase into his apartment. An intoxicating scent of burned sugar and honeysuckle flowed out past the unhinged door to the party. With my head down I passed through the doorway so to not draw any attention to myself. Magnus stood guarding the door but I didn't stop to speak with him and to my relief he didn't stop to question me. Maybe, I thought, I had done well posing as one of the members of the group. The room had been depleted of almost every piece of furniture save the front door which was now laying on its side on top of two trash cans so to be used as a bar. Creeping towards the back darkened corner of the room, I took my place on one of the only chairs I could find.

I watched as the blonde boy of the group, whose glow was mesmerizing, followed Magnus into the bedroom. Magnus moved with the fluidity and lightness of a fairy as he made his way through the crowd. I on the other hand kept myself curled in a ball trying to stay unnoticed but failing when I was noticed by a most peculiar cat. He was an odd little fellow to say the least with white hair with zigzag stripes and little pink hamster like ears and without hesitation the hamster/cat took up residence on my lap but made it very clear he had no wish to be pet.

"What say you Miss?" a voice came from across the small sitting area.

It was a burly man who looked to be in his 30's wearing a black leather jacket and a not so nice scowl on his face.

"I didn't say anything." I said attempting to dust off the man who I could see clearly was no man but a vampire. Instead of leaving well alone he moved like lightning over to where i was sitting. Kneeling down he beside me to pet the cat that was lazing still on my legs making me most uncomfortable.

He asked me a question, referencing the cat in a very unbecoming way.

I stiffened at his horrible manners. "What did you just say to me?"

He coughed out a slight laugh, "The cat? do you like the pussycat? Me, I am more of a bitch lover myself."

I had enough of his ugliness. I gently sat the cat down onto the floor then in a blink of an eye I had my hand over his throat whispering a spell into his ear. Before my hand could release his throat he had already began to shake and crumble to the floor. Instead of waiting around for his friends to find him I moved on from the corner over to another shadowed corner before anyone could see.

A gasp rose up from the center of the crowd but it wasn't from the vampires. It was the fiery red haired girl who was now calling out for someone named Simon. I couldn't help but to giggle seeing her searching the floors like she was looking for an animal. No doubt the Fey's were having a little fun.

It wasn't long then before Magnus was clearing out his apartment, but I kept my place in the corner that overlooked the neighborhood below. Vampires were scattering and taking flight with their fancy flying motorcycles, the fey just up and disappearing all together and the group that had entered to seek Magnus took leave as well. Walking back into the living space, Magnus snapped his fingers and the entire scene changed. I was now lounging on a chase lounge and the apartment took a gothic feel to it versus the previous sleek modern look. He put his head in his hands to wipe away his angst from the night and then turned his attention directly on me. He must have known I was there all along for he didn't look surprised, only curious. He had lined his eyes with thick black eyeliner to offset his cat eyes but it was now beginning to wear down and if possible, he looked tired.

"I don't need a house cleaner. As you can see everything is in perfect order." he said as he crashed into the sofa which was sitting closest to the fireplace.

"That's too bad because I am one hell of a house keeper." I said attempting to stay on par with his sarcasm.

"I saw you when you came through the door. What do you want?" he asked stringing out his words to emphasize his annoyance with my presence.

With that I straightened myself up in the chair, smoothed out my army jacket and blue jeans, tightened my ponytail and took in a deep breath. I knew this moment was coming and I couldn't turn back now.

"My name is Madison Parrish and I need your help."

Magnus ran his fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp and then made the most unbearable noise like a man in pain. I could gather he wasn't happy.

"Do I have a neon light on my head that says come to me all those who are weary and in need? Because I won't give you rest. It isn't my job to help you or anyone for that matter."

I should have felt bad for coming to him by the way he responded but I wasn't going to back down yet.

"Do you know who I am? I mean have you ever heard of my name?" I asked calmly so to not set him off again. I asked only because I was curious of how widespread his knowledge of other warlocks reached.

He leaned his weary head over to look me up and down "Not a clue. But it's rather obvious you are a warlock like myself." He was referring to my unfortunate marking.

I had been gifted with cat like pointed ears on the top of my head though i have absolutely no idea why as I was a warlock and not a cat. I tucked one of my stray blonde locks behind my pointed ear and continued.

"Yes, I am." I said as I began to fidget.

"Get to the point little princess. I have a rather hot date tonight with Chairman Meow."

I was about to ask who Chairman Meow was but as he called the name, in ran the cat I had been holding on the other side of the room.

"The pussy cat." I said acknowledging what he meant

"I assure you he doesn't care for that word."

I laughed quietly under my breath, "neither do I."

Awkwardly I stood up and moved over closer to Magnus and took a seat at the edge of the sofa in which he was resting.

"I'm sorry for just barging in here. I sat for a long time outside debating whether or not I would even have the guts to come in here and tell you what I am about to tell you."

Magnus didn't speak but instead sat stroking Chairman meow while his eyes were still glued on me.

My chest tightened at the pain that the next words were working in me, "My mother, Patricia, she was an amazing mother but she struggled a lot with me. She didn't understand what I was or how I could do the things I could do. I did my best to restrain my powers whenever I was near her so not to scare her because it felt like I was hurting her any time I would slip up."

"So you need help getting along with your mother? You should probably say goodbye to her now princess because it's gonna get a lot harder from here on out." Magnus said his voice absolute.

"See, that's the thing." I said, hot tears welling up in my eyes. My chest felt like it was folding in on itself.

My voice began to shake, "My mother, she is dead. I left for the weekend to the mountains to practice my craft and when I returned I found her on the floor dead."

Magnus sat with his hands shaped like a pyramid under his chin allowing the silence stretch.

"And now you want my help to find out who killed her?" he said with a fluid flick of his hand.

I took the moment of silence to try and catch my breath and gather my strength to speak again, "Yes, but I didn't come to you empty handed. Whoever killed her left a token of their sick appreciation."

At the mention of an object, Magnus's raised his brow in curiosity, "It is a coin necklace with a symbol on it that I don't recognize." I said pulling the necklace out of my jacket pocket and placing it into his outstretched hand.

He took a moment to examine the necklace and then as he flipped the coin over to view the marking he bolted up right off of the couch with obvious surprise written across his face. He didn't have a chance to say what he had found because at that moment a buzzing sound came from the intercom. Magnus's furrowed his eyebrows and his eyes flicked to mine. "Don't move a muscle and don't say a word. Better yet, go back to your corner so whoever is at the door can't see you."

I obeyed and moved back to the chase lounge and then almost jumped straight out of it again when Magnus announced in a booming voice, "WHO DARES DISTURB MY REST?"

A voice came through the intercom and for a few moments and the two discussed matters that I couldn't really comprehend. I straightened myself thinking he would return after speaking on the intercom but instead the sound of the front door creeping open came and this time two voices were there pleading with Magnus, something about vampires and a rat. It would be fine with me if all vampires were turned into rats, I thought, then we could let the world have at them with their mouse traps and rat poison. As it was they were apparently tolerated in our world. Goes to show I still had a lot to learn.

"I apologize for the untimely interruption. Seems there was a foolish little human who got his hands on what I consider the best drink in the house but for him things didn't turn out so well." Magnus said as he took his place back on the golden velvet sofa. He rested his gaze on the fire and his eyes glazed over as if he had departed to his thoughts.

"Are you okay?" I asked attempting to coax him out of his revere.

His eyes flickered over to mine and a pained shadow passed across his face.

"I'm fine little princess. I understand you need help in finding who killed your mother but let me tell you from experience that some questions are better left unanswered."

"I came all this way. You are the high warlock of Brooklyn. How could you not help me?" I said as I bolted up from the chase lounge.

Magnus massaged his temples with his ring covered fingers. One golden ring in particular caught my attention as it bore resemblance to the symbol on the coin necklace. "You will just have to trust me. Mourn your mother but please do not go looking for who is responsible, you will only find danger beyond what your young mind is capable of conceiving." He said almost pleading. It was heart breaking watching a centuries old warlock plead to myself who had only lived on the earth for seventeen years, but if what he is saying was true then I knew in my soul that I would have to continue my search.

"Well, when you say it that way." Relief washed across Magnus's glittered face.

"I know now I have absolutely no choice but to find her killer. You speak as if you know who it is and you fear this person even. You may fear him but to me, this means war."


End file.
